A father who arranged to meet a 13-year-old girl and take her virginity has been jailed after he was snared by online paedophile hunters.

Mark Thornton, 50, from Darlington, chatted to underage girls across two different profiles set up by group, Dark Justice.

The group create decoy accounts to track down men who are seeking sexual activity with underage girls.

Among the sick messages sent by Thornton were requests for risque pictures and he also asked one girl if she was ‘excited’ about losing her virginity with him.

He admitted two charges of attempting to incite a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity, one charge of attempting to meet a child under 16 and one charge of attempting to meet a child under the age of 16 for the purpose of sexual activity, at Teeside Crown Court.

Thornton was sentenced two years in prison and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years.

During the trial, prosecutor Paul Abrahams said that Thornton began chatting to a social media profile with the name Jessie Amy Thompson in July of this year and soon turned the conversation sexual.

Mr Abrahams said: ‘She said she was 13-years-of-age. That was made quite clear in the conversation.

‘He used what we would call in global terms, grooming. He was asking her to commit penetrative sexual acts.’

Thornton used explicit language and asked her to meet up but no such meeting materialised.

Later the same month, Thornton struck up a conversation with a profile under the name Toon Lass on the social media site Kik and was again told her age.

Mr Abrahams added: ‘She indicated immediately that she was 13 and called Amy.

‘He told her he had previously had sex with a 15-year-old but she would have been the youngest.

‘He exchanged pictures of his penis and asked for pictures of her but she said she had none.’

The following day, Thornton arrived at an Asda car park in Darlington to meet the girl and was caught on camera by Dark Justice.

He was later arrested by police.

Christopher Baker, defending, said: ‘This defendant has failed to give a true explanation to why he went about this.

‘But the reality is that these offences occurred when things in his life were going badly with his partner and his 26-year-old son who has various difficulties.

‘That is some explanation for this kind of behaviour.

‘But he accepts that people do this sort of thing because they have a sexual interest in children.

‘He has lost his partner, the majority of his friends and his good name.

‘Although this defendant was oblivious to this, there was no actual risk of harm to any child.’

Thornton was visibly shaken in the dock as Recorder Richard Wright QC handed him a prison sentence and told him his behaviour was ‘deeply concerning’.

Mr Recorder Wright told Thornton: ‘It is clear to me that you have little to no insight into your offending so you pose a risk to children.

‘You have a sexual interest in children and this is deeply concerning.

‘In fact no children were exposed to your behaviour but you did not know that so I am sentencing you essentially on what was in your mind and what you would have done had you been able to get your hands on a child.

‘You chose to offend in this way. Losing your partner, friends and family is entirely your own fault.’

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A grandfather who posed as a much younger man to speak to a 13-year-old girl online has been caught by paedophile hunters and jailed.

Bus driver James Wilson, 53, from Newcastle, pretended to be a 22-year-old man, joined a teen chatroom and began to converse with who he thought was a teenage schoolgirl.

The chat progressed on WhatsApp messages and became sexually explicit within 10 minutes and Wilson sent a webcam video of him performing a sex act.

After requesting explicit pictures of the underage girl in return, Wilson was informed he had been the subject of a sting by Dark Justice.

The anonymous organisation pose as underage girls online to track down men looking for illegal sex. When Wilson realised he had been duped, he disposed of his laptop and handed himself in to the police.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Judge Edward Bindloss sentenced him to 16 months behind bars with a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order and 10 years on the sex offenders register.

The judge told him: ‘You thought you were chatting with a young girl, aged 13.

‘Within ten minutes your chat with her had turned sexually explicit.

‘It was a very fast manoeuvre from general chat to sexual explicit material.

‘I am entirely satisfied you were seeking teenagers, seeking young people and wanting to engage in sexual discussion with her. There was, in fact, no girl aged 13.’

The court heard probation officials say Wilson poses a high risk of further serial offer ding and a medium risk of harm to children.

Vic Laffey, defending, said Wilson gave up his job as a bus driver as a result of what he did and now struggles to meet mortgage repayments.

The court heard Wilson’s wife is unable to work due to health problems and the whole family has suffered as a result of his behavior.

Mr Laffey added ‘He accepts, without hesitation, he has acted very foolishly.

‘He is ashamed of the situation he has created.

‘One can say with some certainty this incident has had a significant effect upon this man. He is not going to trouble the courts again.’

Ian Skittlethorpe used WhatsApp messages to urge a girl – who was actually a fake profile set up by vigilante group Dark Justice – to send naked photos.

But after he said he had access to two children, the secret group tipped off police and he was arrested. Shamed Skittlethorpe, 58, of Howe Road, Gosport, avoided jail after his perverted crimes were detailed at Portsmouth Crown Court. In messages he sent, Skittlethorpe boasts about travelling to abuse children across the globe. In court these were described as ‘fantasies’. Tom Wright, prosecuting, said the vigilante group, which was named in court, used fake accounts to catch people.

“He expressed to her his wish to have sex with her, he talks about how it was a long time he had taken the virginity of a 13-year-old girl”
Prosecutor Tom Wright

Mr Wright said: ‘False accounts have been set up which give all the appearance of being the social media of young girls between the ages of 11 and 15. There was a profile set up, a young girl called Amy, featuring photographs. ‘In all the contact she was at pains to say she was 13 and living alone in Newcastle. ‘Ian Skittlethorpe was lured into a very sexualised contact with her over a period of days. ‘In very short terms, he was discussing with Amy very sexual matters.

‘He expressed to her his wish to have sex with her, he talks about how it was a long time he had taken the virginity of a 13-year-old girl.

‘He talked about having consensual intercourse with other young people.’ The messages also show Skittlethorpe talking about sex with a dog.

Skittlethorpe asked for a photo of ‘Amy’ undressed and asked her to take her top off. Mr Wright added: ‘It seems the evidence that (the vigilante) was getting might have been more extensive but on August 12 Mr Skittlethorpe in the course of conversation indicated (he would have access to two young girls).’

Skittlethorpe was able to delete WhatsApp on his phone but police found 13 indecent images. He admitted 10 counts of possessing indecent images, one count of possession of extreme pornography and one of distributing one indecent image.

The indecent images included categories C, B and A, the worst kind. Skittlethorpe admitted two counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

Recorder Anne Arnold said the case was ‘troubling’ and handed him an 80-week prison term suspended for two years.

He must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order means he must not contact children or for 10 years use internet devices without making them available to police. He must complete a sex offenders’ group programme and 25 days of rehabilitation.

Daniel Reilly, mitigating, said Skittlethorpe had got rid of all internet devices. He added: ‘He speaks of the shame he feels and deep regret at the way he has behaved.’

Asked to comment about vigilante action, a Hampshire police spokesman said: ‘We understand the desire to protect children, but any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police so we can investigate and bring people to justice.’